---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
In a message dated 4/7/01 11:28:35 AM Central Daylight Time,
tunenbww@clear.lakes.com (Paul) writes:
> I'm an aural tuner, so setting this temperament was a bit of a struggle. It
> did work out. All of the checks proofed correct. I had several people try
> the piano. Their reactions is another story.
I'm glad that you are an aural tuner because I have the ideal temperament for
you to try. It will be in the same general area as Jim Coleman's #11, yet
different enough to be quite significantly different in the overall effects
it produces when actual music is played. The difference is in the effects
that Equal Beating (EB) produces.
While not attempting to say anything negative about Jim Coleman's idea, it
was formed simply by meting out certain proportions for various intervals,
giving up purity at the top of the Cycle of 5ths in order to avoid harshness
at the bottom. Mine does essentially the same thing but because of the EB
effect, you can play early music with it and have it mimic the sound of a
much earlier temperament which would have uncalled for harshness in the
remote keys when trying to play music from the 19th or 20th Centuries.
What happens is a canceling out effect in the Rapidly Beating Intervals
(RBI), e.g., 3rds, 6ths, 10ths & 17ths that make them sound much purer than
they really are. This is not an imaginary effect. It is the same effect
found in such acoustical tricks as Noise Cancellation Systems and Beat
Eliminators. The gist of it is that when there are two sets of beats
occurring at the same time, they phase each other out so that they are not
perceived by the ear.
This gives you an advantage in that you can have a true, Cycle of 5ths based
temperament that can and does work well with virtually any kind of music, the
way only ET is believed to be able to do. There are many myths about ET and
one of them is that it is "Universally" practiced. In fact, most aural
tuners cannot really produce a true ET. There is always some error and that
error does produce an effect or "color", as it is called in the music.
The Equal Beating Victorian Temperament (EBVT) that I designed stays well
within the bounds of deviation (or "error") in ET that most aural tuners
produce. Therefore, it produces no sound so extreme (either too pure or too
harsh) that the *contemporary* ear will reject it. I designed and
implemented this temperament in 1992 and have used it ever since as my own
personal replacement for ET. I have, in fact, tuned no pianos in ET since
1989. I tune all kinds of pianos, in homes, schools, churches, concert
halls, restaurants, hotels, etc. I have a very loyal and devoted following
that really likes the way I make my pianos sound.
Ed Foote's latest essay found in the liner notes of his new CD is quite
impressive. But I find a couple of areas of temperament research lacking in
his study that I usually find, even among the most knowledgeable alternative
temperament practitioners. There seems to be only one "Meantone", the most
extreme form, the one that makes the modern piano sound like an antique one
with virtually none of the resonance we expect to hear. There are whole
classes of temperaments that remain ignored and unexplored, the Modified
Meantones (not the same kind of temperament as a "Meantone") and the Quasi
Equal Temperaments. The EBVT is, in fact a Modified Meantone Temperament
although it also just barely satisfies the Rules for Well-Tempered Tuning as
written by Andreas Werkmeister in the 17th Century.
Ed mentioned in a recent post that a Gershwin piece in Db would have sounded
"better" in ET. I've seen him say the same about Chopin and Debussy. I
respectfully disagree. There is a reason that these composers chose a remote
key, the challenge is to find the exact combinations that make it sound
vibrant and singing but not harsh. ET is merely the default choice for those
who do not have the answer. It neutralizes the piano to the point where it
would make no difference at all which key is chosen to play in. I hardly
think anyone would choose ET if they really knew how much better music could
sound with a more advanced approach to tuning.
Below are the basic instructions for the EBVT. It cannot be tuned the way
most people are trying to attempt alternative temperaments, by imposing a set
of "Correction Figures" to a smooth curve calculation for ET using an
Electronic Tuning Device (ETD). If you tune the octaves the way I have
indicated in a very brief description, they will naturally be of different
sizes as you ascend and descend the scale. No smooth curve calculation can
produce this. They are known as "Tempered Octaves".
If you or anyone is interested in reading a background article I have written
to support my ideas called "Key Color", please request it privately. It is
too long to post on Pianotech. Also, please inquire if you need further
explanation of how to tune the octaves. It is really quite easy and simple
but not the way you have probably been taught.
Good luck with this and let me and/or the List know of your own reaction and
those of your customers.
Regards,
Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin
EBVT Aural Tuning Instructions: Introduction
Below are the line by line instructions for tuning the EBVT. You will begin
by estimating just 2 intervals, a 5th which you will temper just slightly
more than you would for ET and a 3rd which you will temper about half as much
as you would for ET. Thereafter, all you will need to do is either tune an
interval perfectly pure or make it beat exactly the same as another. In
short, the temperament sequence itself provides you with the exact
information you need.
The instructions include the aural way of proving your pure 4ths and 5ths.
When doing an initial first rough pass, it is not necessary to prove these
intervals so exactly. Also, the instructions have several places where they
tell you to "temporarily tune...etc". These are for people who are just
beginning to learn the temperament sequence.
With experience and during the fine tuning of the temperament, you may skip
the "temporary" part the same way you learn to skip elementary steps in
Algebra. You simply learn how to make 2 intervals beat exactly the same as
each other by placing the note to be tuned at point where it creates 2
equally beating intervals. This is also called "Meantone tuning".
The following is the way the 3rds played chromatically will sound from F3-F4.
Just imagine all values inverted and you have the most commonly made error
in tuning today which is known as "Reverse Well".
F3-A3: slow
F#3-A#3: fast
G3-B3: slow
Ab3-C4: quite fast
A3-C#4: moderate, about the same as ET
Bb-D4: moderate
B3-D#4: very fast
C4-E4: slow, half the speed of ET
C#4-F4: very fast
Equal Beating Victorian Temperament
(Equal Beating Victorianized Modified Meantone Temperament)
Instructions for Aural Tuning
(With Tempered Octaves)
1. Tune A4 to A-440 pitch source.
2. Tune A3 to A4, stretching the octave to a a 6:3 type.
3. Temper E4 from A3, a narrow 5th, a little more than an Equal
Temperament (ET) 5th but still slightly less than 1 beat per second.
This is an estimate and may be checked or adjusted later, if
necessary.
4. Listen to the 4th, E4-A4. It should beat faster than the 5th, A3-E4
but should not be faster than 2 beats per second.
5. Temper C4 from E4, a wide Major 3rd to beat approximately 6 beats per
second. (Half the speed of the same interval in ET.)
6. Temper G3 from E4, a wide Major 6th so that it beats exactly the same
as the C4-E4 3rd. (Approximately 6 beats per second).
7. Temper B3 from G3, a wide Major 3rd so that it beats exactly the same
as both the C4-E4 3rd and the G3-E4 6th. (Approximately 6 beats per
second).
8. Temporarily tune D4 a pure 4th from A4 then notice the strong beat
in the 5th G3-D4 and sharpen D4 until the beat is exactly the same
in both the G3-D4 5th and the A3-D4 4th. (Faster than the same
interval in ET.)
9. Tune F3 a pure 5th from C4. To check this interval, use G#2 as the
test note and prove that the Ab2-F3 6th beats exactly the same as
the Ab2-C4 10th.
10. Tune F4 a pure 4th from C4. To check this interval, use G#3 as the
test note and prove that the 3rd Ab3-C4 beats exactly the same as the
Ab3-F4 6th.
11. Verify the F3-F4 octave. Using the test for a pure 5th which chooses
the lowest coincident partial of F3 & C4 and the test for the pure 4th
C4-F4 will yield a properly stretched octave, usually a compromise
between a 4:2 & 6:3 type.
12. Check the speed of the 3rd, F3-A3. It should beat exactly the same
or very similarly to the 3rds G3-B3 and C4-E4. If it is too slow,
adjust the note, E4 slightly flatter and begin the sequence again.
If too fast, adjust E4 slightly sharper and restart the sequence.
13. Tune Bb3 a pure 5th from F4. Use the test note C#3 to prove that the
Db3-Bb3 6th beats exactly the same as the Db3-F4 10th.
14. Listen to the resultant 3rd, Bb3-D4. Temper C#4 so that the A3-C#4
3rd beats exactly the same as the Bb3-D4 3rd.
15. Tune F#3 a pure 5th from C#4. Use the test note A2 to prove that the
A2-F#3 6th beats exactly the same as the A2-C#4 10th.
16. Tune G#3 a pure 4th from C#4. Use the test note E3 to prove that the
E3-G#3 3rd beats exactly the same as the E3-C#4 6th. The Ab3-C4 3rd
will beat exactly the same as the F#3-A#3 3rd.
17. Temporarily tune D#4 a pure 5th from G#3 then notice the slight beat
between D#4 & A#3 and flatten D#4 until the G#3-D#4 5th beats exactly
the same as the A#3-D#4 4th. It will be a very slight beat, less than
the same interval in ET. The B3-D#4 3rd will beat very rapidly, at
least as fast as the F#3-A#3 & Ab3-C4 3rds below and similar to but
perhaps not quite as fast as the C#4-F4 3rd above.
18. When expanding the octaves do so in a manner which will cause the
2nd inversion major triads of C, G, D, A, E, & B to have the 3rd & 6th
beat exactly the same. The octave should be stretched enough so that
there is a very slight beat in the single octave (approximately 1/2
beat per second) and that the tempered 5th will beat slower than the
4th. When both the 4th and the 5th were pure in the temperament, the
octave will naturally be stretched a little less than an octave
whose 4th and 5th are tempered.
19. When expanding the outer octaves, try to reconcile the double octave
and the octave and a 5th (12th) so that the double octave and the 12th
beat exactly the same. (A very slight beat, almost inaudible). This
will naturally result in octaves which vary slightly in size up and
down the keyboard. These will quite effectively be "tempered
octaves".
Bill Bremmer RPT
Madison, Wisconsin
April, 2000
---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/c2/28/c7/6b/attachment.htm
---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC